Steven & Lauren about The Walking Dead at C2E2

Steven Yeun and Lauren Cohan – who play lovestruck couple Glenn and Maggie in AMC’s The Walking Dead - were in Chicago this past weekend for the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo (C2E2).

During a panel about the show, Yeun and Cohan answered questions about the reality of romance during a zombie armageddon, how they felt at the end of shooting, and what Season 3 will be like for the survivors, now that Rick has taken a somewhat darker character turn.

Yeun and Cohan were greeted enthusiastically by the crowd at the event, prompting both to talk about how the show’s success has changed their lives; when they walk down the street now, they’re recognized as Glenn and Maggie. For Yeun, it even meant meeting a fan in Korea who waited for an entire day at a coffee shop near his hotel because he had gone there once earlier. Said Yeun: “I felt bad that she’d waited for me, so I bought her a hot chocolate.”
Another reason Yeun and Cohan received such a warm welcome was because they play two of the most popular characters on the show. In a series with lots of annoying characters that you’d almost rather see get eaten, Glenn and Maggie offer a bit of hope in a world that could desperately use it.
Yeun and Cohan spoke about their characters’ relationship and what it means for the show:

Lauren: I love the fact that there’s this incredibly human story, that’s incredibly simple in this horrible world that we’re living in.
Yeun: It’s realistic, you know. I think people were upset, like “Glenn, what’s wrong with you? Why are you not going after this beautiful girl? She wants you.” It’s interesting to see someone balk at that when it’s clearly obvious, because, in that situation, there’s a lot of internal struggle that the zombie apocalypse gives to a person.

 They also talked about the Walking Dead comic books and why they stopped reading them after a while:

Lauren: I’ve read to about halfway through the prison, but I don’t want to go beyond that. I think Maggie’s character has changed. It’s too confusing. It’s nice to just invest in the script medium.
Yeun: I think the show has kind of turned into its own thing. Definitely paying homage to the original material – but why wouldn’t people want two forms of entertainment? You don’t want people to see the exact [same thing], so I think to read ahead would be kind of a disservice to the show.
Lauren: It’s funny because Robert [Kirkman] was saying last night, as well, that he gets bored himself because he’s already done the stories with the comic, so he’s actually eager to create new fantastic deaths.

 And speaking of the prison, the actors both couldn’t share any details of what the new location would entail because they haven’t “broken story” on the first half of Season 3. However, Yeun and Cohan did touch on how Rick’s transition into a more assertive and aggressive leader in the Walking Dead Season 2 Finale may impact the group moving forward.

Yeun: You see people really at a crossroads between what’s right and what’s wrong. You even saw Rick falter a little bit. Shane’s gone now, so there’s no other side of the coin. Now it’s up to people to make their own choices, and now it’s a “Ricktatorship.”
Lauren: I think [Rick killing Shane] had to happen. I think Shane wanted him to do it. I think he was egging him on to do it. They couldn’t both wear the crown so to speak.
Yeun: It’s someone not being predictable. With Rick, I think you could always kind of see what he was going to do and the choices he was going to make, but now you don’t know because he went a little bit, slightly bonkers.
Lauren: Ever since the bar scene, when he killed those two guys, I think it’s very interesting to see the divide in his character.
Yeun: It’s like he’s grown a third ball. He’s got an extra ball to facilitate what’s going on.

 Thanks to ScreenRant for the article!